KARACHI: Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan will visit Sindh to address election rallies in Hyderabad and Karachi on July 21 and 22, respectively.

PTI’s Sindh chapter president Ali Zaidi told a press conference on Saturday that the party chairman would address rally in Hyderabad on July 21 and the next day he would lead three different rallies in Karachi.

“The venues of Karachi rallies will be announced later,” he said.

He said that his party was very clear about the upcoming local government elections and its candidates were very much confident to win their respective seats amid growing popularity of the party.

Mr Zaidi said that the former prime minister would be here “among us for two days and his presence will definitely give boost to our campaign”.

He said that the people of Karachi had been supporting the PTI for the past one decade and hope that this trend would continue.

He also condemned the recent violence in Sindh cites on ethnic grounds and held responsible the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) for creating unrest just for what he called its short-term political gains days before the local government elections.

“The PTI has always condemned politics of ethnicity and believes in unity of the people. Every part of this country is owned by its people regardless of their ethnic, religious or sectarian backgrounds,” added Mr Zaidi.

He also wondered over the accusations from the government circle against his party for exploiting the situation in different parts of Sindh and blamed the ruling PPP for igniting violence whenever it saw defeat in elections.

“The same we see in this local government polls,” he said. “The PPP used police force for rigging in the first phase of elections in different Sindh districts and now it deliberately stayed away from maintaining the writ of the state.”

“Why the police didn’t move in Hyderabad right after the first incident was reported? Why the police allowed certain elements to disturb the law and order? The PPP wants to disturb peace ahead of [local government] elections,” he said.

He said the PTI candidates despite facing threats and insecurity in Hyderabad stood firm to contest the polls on July 24 and the overwhelming support from people of the city and Karachi suggested major success to his party.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2022